Friday, April 8, 2011

bits and pieces

(Thank you for all the birthday wishes the past few weeks, it means a lot to me!)

Phew! That was a week. But the best part was the finale ~ an all night barf-fest. Eli developed a fever on Wednesday and I decided that canceling his (and his brothers) party would be premature. He seemed to get better and was fever free on party day. Then Sunday night rolled around and all heck broke loose. The most amusing part of it all was the singing yesterday morning. You'd be surprised at how many silly songs the kids and I and Jonathan can make up about vomit! I guess that's called turning lemons into lemonade?

I'm breathing deeply and fully right now, feeling relieved that last week went so well considering all that had to be accomplished!

The weather has been a mixture of glorious sun and swirling snow. I read in the paper that the Sierra's haven't gotten this much snow in a very long time. Something like 50 years and the wildlife will benefit greatly from it. We've been having bear problems the last few years with the fires destroying their food and drought limiting their food sources in the mountains. They've been heading down into the valley and causing quite the stir. Good snow.

So, back to the warm weather. We've been getting out in the garden and really cleaning up the place. We've been cutting down the old growth in our flower gardens and we've finally moved our chicken fence and made it into a pea trellis. On Sunday, I put on shorts for the first time this season and was blinded by my white legs. We've also been enjoying backyard bonfires and marshmallows.

And the next morning, the same view looked something like this!

I'm a few weeks into a hand sewing class I'm co-teaching at the home school co-op and I get pretty excited about projects. Last week we made frog bean bags. But before we cut out a whole bog full of frogs I had to make sure the kids could make them. So, I made a few prototypes filled with popcorn kernels and button hearts. The best part about this class is that I co-teach it and I don't have to cut out all 15 of these patterns every week!

I also have to share with you a delicious recipe for lentils that a friend e-mailed me. (thank you Rachael!) Honestly, I love cooking and I love good, simple, hearty, fast, cheap and kid friendly meals. I have this fetish for lentils and we've actually made this twice in the past two weeks. I'm going to try and make this recipe with red lentils but I love the look of yellow.

The same thing has been happening to us, outside enjoying warm spring weather, then suddenly back to cold and snow. I like your evening campfire pictures.We eat so many lentils around here...Hope everyone is feeling much better soon!

Thank you for posting the recipe! I hope everyone is feeling better and OMG the weather change there! More drastic than here. How is the co-op teaching going? I remember some time back you were overwhelmed with it all.Warmly, Nicola

zephyr handmade

Welcome!

Hello and welcome! I am a homeschooling mom to my three kids. I'm an eclectic homeschooler, unschooling, waldorfy but we do some organized classes. We love to be outside hiking the high desert of Nevada or just playing in our backyard. Every day is an adventure. We are especially passionate about the environment and simple living. This is a place for me to express my love of gluten-free cooking, knitting, organic gardening and raising our small flock of chickens.